Director's Corner

Features

The 2017 Minnesota Water Resources Conference returns to the St. Paul RiverCentre October 17-18. The Water Resources Center hosts the annual conference which presents innovative water resource engineering solutions, management techniques, and current research. Plenary topics include the role of media in raising public awareness of water issues, water quality in agriculture, protecting public health in recreational waters and tribal water concerns.

Citizen science is a field on the rise. Around the globe, researchers are harnessing the power of engaged members of the community to help contribute to important research questions. As defined by the Citizen Science Association, citizen science is “the involvement of the public in scientific research – whether community-driven research or global investigations.”

Starry stonewort (Nitellopsis obtusa) is a new aquatic invasive species in Minnesota. This green alga—native to Europe and Asia—was first identified in Minnesota in summer 2015 in Lake Koronis (Stearns Co.). What does the arrival of this new aquatic invasive species mean for Minnesota’s lakes?

The area’s scenic attractions have typically been enhanced by its weather – breezy, sunny, and mild in summer and reliably snowy in winter. But current models predict that global climate change patterns will result in local changes that could noticeably and adversely impact the visitor and resident North Shore experience. The summer seasons could bring increased average temperatures, more heat waves, increased wildfires, and more intense precipitation events. Meanwhile the winters will likely see a decrease in maximum snow depth and a later average date when snow levels reach the one-foot depth that is desirable for many outdoor sports.